Body size and hip fracture risk

The objective of this population-based case-control study was to determine the independent association between height, weight at different ages and ad ult weight change on hip fracture risk, and the joint effects of these fact ors. The study base comprised postmenopausal women 50-81 years of age who r esided in six counties in Sweden during the period October 1993 to February 1995. The study included 1,327 cases with an incident hip fracture and 3,2 62 randomly selected controls. We obtained information on body measures and other factors possibly related to hip fracture through mailed questionnair es and telephone interviews. Height and weight change were dominant risk fa ctors. Tall women (greater than or equal to 169 cm) had an odds ratio of 3. 16 (95% confidence interval = 2.47-4.05) compared with women shorter than 1 59 cm. Weight gain during adult life was strongly protective: compared with those with moderate weight change (-3 to 3 kg), those with substantial wei ght gain (greater than or equal to 12 kg) had a markedly decreased risk of hip fracture (odds ratio = 0.35; 95% confidence interval = 0.27-0.45), wher eas weight loss was associated with an increased risk. Weight change retain ed important effects among all subjects, even after controlling for current weight and weight at age 18. In contrast, among women who gained weight, t he separate effects of current weight and weight at age 18 were small or ab sent. Among women who lost weight, both current weight and weight at age 18 had effects that remained after controlling for weight change. Adult weigh t change and height are dominant body size risk factors fur hip fracture. W eight loss cs weight changes demarcates different patterns of hip fracture risk.